![]() ![]() The ability to “hack” the mind and body has been an interesting journey, and I look forward to sharing more soon. Our “book club” has read about a few additional techniques since beginning with Wim Hof and cold training. I’ve continued with daily cold showers and still can’t believe that I can turn the dial to “cold” without flinching. I felt like David Blaine for a couple minutes - haha! To experience first-hand the ability to override a lifetime’s worth of preprogrammed responses to cold (avoidance, shivering, goosebumps, hyperventilating, etc) is nothing short of magicaI. This new exploration into various breathing techniques and cold exposure has really been an eye-opening experience into the power of the mind. I was amazed at how quickly all 3 of us adapted to the frequent bouts of cold exposure. The most challenging part in the beginning was getting my mind to turn the shower knob to a cold setting….talk about a mental challenge!! However, the cold crew kept each other “inspired” with daily texts, pics/vids and a good dose of one upping. ![]() Put our feet in an ice cold bucket of water for 2 minutes every dayĮnd every shower with 2 minutes of cold water. Put our hands in an ice cold bucket of water for 2 minutes every day In preparation for the canal plunge, our instructor had us increase our daily exposure to cold with a few “fun” exercises. So our “book club” decided to take it a step further…we signed up for a 1 day Wim Hof workshop that would culminate in an icy cold submersion in a NJ canal.in FEBRUARY! Kilimanjaro) shirtless! One of the most interesting benefits from the method is being able to have some control in boosting your own immune system (you’ll have to read the book for details)! ![]() By practicing various breathing techniques, he and others were able to hack the “fight-or-flight” system to withstand extremely cold temperatures for long periods of time (including taking many groups up Mt. Wim Hof, “The Iceman,”and the scientific community identifies many benefits to consistent exposure to the cold. The Wim Hof Method consists of 3 different componentsīreathing ➤ Meditation ➤ Gradual Cold Exposure Scott Carney is an investigative journalist who wrote this book to “ show how it is possible to….manipulate deep parts of your physiology by intentionally tweaking identifiable programmed responses, you can begin to cede aspects of that automation to your consciousness”. What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strengthby Scott Carney Forward by Wim Hof. Thanks to these guys - Brian and Carlos - for keeping the journey interesting. Long-story short, our motley crew of three formed an unofficial book club. What was all the hype about Hof? The more we got talking, the more I knew we needed to coordinate the schedule so we could all get our fix talking about breathing and cold therapy techniques. Neither of these patients knew each other, and their appointments were at different times, so my interest peaked. In December 2020, I was treating two patients who happened to talk to me about being able to hold their breath over 3 minutes due to some interesting breathing philosophy by this guy named Wim Hof. Fortunately, my accountability crew came about in a rather unconventional way. Since I knew getting through 21 books in a year would be no easy task for someone like me who doesn’t like to sit still and falls asleep less than 5 minutes after hitting the hay. Once the $ was spent, the goal was locked in and the rest was history. In 2018, when I wanted to do Ironman 70.3 in Lake Placid, I immediately told a few fellow crazies that I knew would “encourage” me to officially register and never quit. You’ve got to stick your neck out and tell others what you’re planning to do! Once a goal is established, I’ve always believed the most successful approach to staying on track is to create accountability. Since the most successful people in the world are big readers, I wanted to see what I might be missing. Instead of a physical goal, I would embark on a year of “mental” training by significantly increasing my reading. I’m typically not a big new year’s resolution guy, but since last year was such a goal crusher, I decided to mix things up and set a mission for 2021. ![]()
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